Posted on 08/06/2004 5:40:56 AM PDT by presidio9
Radio bad boys Opie and Anthony are coming back, and they just might be badder than ever. This time, however, they do come at a price for listeners.
Starting Oct. 4, the former WNEW afternoon hosts will do a four-hour show each morning on XM Satellite Radio, where there are almost no content restrictions and which is creating a premium channel just for Gregg (Opie) Hughes and Anthony Cumia.
That means fans have to buy an XM radio, pay the regular $9.99 monthly subscription fee and then pay an additional $1.99 per month for the new channel, which will start with just Opie and Anthony before it adds other programming.
"I can't tell you how happy we are to be back," Cumia said at a press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe yesterday. "This will be the show we want and our fans want, with no censorship. Nothing is off limits."
Opie and Anthony were a hot ticket at WNEW before they were taken off the air in August 2002 because a couple in their "Sex for Sam" contest was seen having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
While nothing explicit was broadcast, the resulting outrage helped prompt the current national argument over inappropriate media content.
The flap also killed WNEW's "hot talk" format, so Opie and Anthony have spent the past two years riding out their contract.
Cumia said yesterday that satellite, while now just a small fraction of the radio market, was pretty much their only realistic option in the current climate.
"People are so scared in broadcast radio now that we couldn't do our show," he said. "I don't mean we want to do a whole F-show. That's not what we do. I mean we don't want to worry that one little slip means we're going to get called into the office after the show and fired."
Opie said the new show will be a lot like the old show, with most of the same cast. It will be done live in morning drive, then rebroadcast through the day.
"This is good for satellite radio, too," he said. "This will wake a lot of people up to the fact there's an alternative in radio - a place to hear shows that have full freedom."
Prodded by a crowd of O&A fans at the press conference, Opie also took a brief jab at Howard Stern, who often accused Opie and Anthony of stealing his material.
Their going to satellite, Opie cracked, "means he can't accuse us of copying him this time.
"Howard had the chance to do this, too," Opie said, "but quite frankly, he didn't have the b--."
Plus, when the rapist was president we enjoyed 8 years of peace. When John Kerry is President he'll bring our troops home!
Yes there were/are funny
And yes I will probably pay to hear them again.
I never said they would be back on the public airwaves nor would I ever advocate that.
But the show was funny as hell....
And you are right anything with Jay Mohr or anytime Jimmy Norton went off about something....tussle tussle
Despite the fact that he can occasionally be a royal prick, the dude is funny. I especially enjoy his bit on the narcotizing effects of Nyquil. If you've never heard it, you're missing out.
I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Norton. I really miss that foulmouthed, lewd, misanthropic bastard.
Ah well, I guess there are some things that just aren't fit for public consumption.
Yeah the finer things in life.....
I listen to Jim Rome and every once in a while Jay Mohr will pop up on there and hes classic on that show too...
Ironically, his own show STUNK!
Yeah....
he is a great #2 guy but it takes someone special to be able to carry the show and be able to keep people interested when you are dropping some bombs so to speak...
Romey can do that, Stern has done that, O and A do it, but Mohr didnt really do it for whatever reason...
If you want my honest opinion, I think that most local sports radio is so horrible that it's nearly impossible to listen for more than a half hour, maximum. There are a few notable exceptions I suppose, but not many.
I guess there are some syndicated hosts who are more entertaining.
I just wish that there was a radio station here that carried Phil Hendrie.
When & why did he change the song from 'Special Ed' to Special Fred'? I've been curious since I heard the Fred version on Comedy Central. Too many PC complaints from Special Ed parents, maybe?
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